At the start of The Traitors season two episode six, Alan Cumming reveals that the Traitors tried to murder Bergie, but because he has a shield, no murder has been committed. Parvati is nervous that Bergie had a shield, like she suspected, and Dan seems fully convinced that Bergie will be going home. Phaedra reveals she didn’t want to send home Bergie because she loves him (and he trusts her). So it’s clear this was Dan’s choice.

When Bergie walks into breakfast, it’s clear this choice fell right on its head. What a blunder! Dan tries to act happy to see Bergie, but I don’t know if anyone’s buying it — why should they? I still believe in Parvati’s ability to slither out of any bad situation she’s in, but I don’t believe Dan to do the same. And Phaedra, much to her credit, doesn’t even have anything to slither out of because still, NO ONE suspects her! What an icon.

It’s actually almost hard to watch how surprised Dan is by his failure — like, dude, this is literally exactly what Parvati told you she thought would happen. And you didn’t listen. So…?!?!? Peter tells the group about how he told three people that he had a shield: Dan, Parvati, and CJ. So, he reasons, because the Traitors tried to vote out Bergie, they must’ve believed him and made their move accordingly. It’s frustrating because, well, he’s right! And Parvati knew it but Dan did it anyway! Ugh.

Anyway, Parvati is obviously not giving up without a fight. Dan seems to want to do the same, and his only strategy is, again, withholding. It’s worked thus far in the game but it’s hard to see how doing that now will help. Good luck Dan!

Alan comes in, and I love his monochromatic, chrome blue matching top + beret + glasses, a combo I personally want in my closet as soon as possible. The group heads outside for the challenge, which is essentially launching a cannonball from a catapult BUT all the pieces to build the catapult are far apart and must be retrieved. Also, there are “shield ammo” boxes which you must retrieve if you want to have a shot at winning a shield.

Kate is not thrilled about how physical this challenge is, which makes for great television. I love watching Kate hate doing stuff — it’s really funny!

The challenge is indeed extremely physically demanding, a stark reminder of how quickly this show can oscillate from a basically funny, chill challenge to one that requires a lot of running, manual labor, and crossing freezing cold rivers with strong currents. Even the folks from The Challenge, Trishelle and CT, are struggling in this one, and they were on, you know, The Challenge!

The team successfully rebuilds the catapult and chooses John to be the one to launch the golden cannonball into the sky — the mood shifts drastically to euphoria. One of the things I love about The Traitors is not just how extreme the emotions are; it’s how quickly they are to transform and shift. Honestly, that feels pretty true to life for me! Life sucks until life rocks, until it sucks again. Shereé, Sandra, Parvati, Trishelle, and Peter all launch the shield ammo at the catapult’s target, and Shereé lands the closest, so she wins protection at tonight’s vote.

Back at the house, the tides are very clearly against Dan, and to a lesser extent, or maybe a greater extent, depending on who you ask, Parvati. I begin to wonder if Dan and Parvati’s best strategy might be trying to frame Peter, because maybe that’s all that’s left. But if I’m being honest, that move feels way too transparent and obvious — I’m hoping that Parvati can come up with something else, because honestly, I see no path forward for Dan.

Speaking of no hope for Dan, Peter has aligned with a group of faithfuls that he has decided are 100% faithful: himself, Bergie, Trishelle, John and Kevin. Peter may be right about who he is trusting, but it’s annoying to watch because he’s so self-righteous about it. No one hates it more than Parvati, especially because Peter is openly excluding her from conversations, literally closing the door in her face. Oh Peter, one thing you don’t wanna do is close a door in Parvati Shallow’s face! I wouldn’t advise it!

Dan’s strategy is, you guessed it, to withhold his opinion until the roundtable. It seems like this is his only move at this point — to imply he’s gonna have some big, amazing reveal that he just can’t say yet. Strategically, it would make the most sense for him to turn on Parvati, because they’re already suspicious of her. But like I said in my last recap, I don’t think he has it in him. If he turns on Phaedra instead, will anyone believe him?

At the roundtable, Dan comes out of the gate with his accusation, which he is trying (and I think succeeding) to make sound incredibly dramatic. I have to say, in my Werewolf experience, coming on so strong, first thing, doesn’t usually work unless you really are innocent! And even then, it sometimes doesn’t work!

Dan’s trying to position himself as the quiet, meticulous student who has been tallying the numbers, and has a rational, unemotional argument for who he thinks the traitor is. People look very nervous, so I have to believe Dan’s strategy is working, at least for the moment. He asks people to look at who hasn’t received a single vote — a group that includes both Parvati and Phaedra. He asks people to think about errant votes — it’s down to just Parvati and Phaedra.

And then, exactly as I predicted (!!!), Dan turns on Phaedra, identifying her reactions to the murders at breakfast as the linchpin to her guilt. It’s extremely hard to watch him not only throw her under the bus, but also try to run her over repeatedly. People are listening. Dan’s strategy seems to rest on the assumption that Phaedra won’t be able to think fast enough on her feet to defend herself.

And that’s when I remembered, Phaedra is not just a Housewife (already a role that requires nuance, strategy, and a lot of thinking on your feet). She’s also a top-notch lawyer.

Kate is the first to question Dan’s case. She opens the door for Phaedra to defend herself, and she does, so calmly and with such pathos that I almost forgot she really is a traitor. She says it clearly to Dan: “No one trusts you, darling.” GO OFF, PHAEDRA!!! GET HIM!!!

Meanwhile, Parvati doesn’t even have to say anything. She knows better than to try to make her case right now.

When the votes come in, Dan votes for Phaedra, Peter votes for Parvati to help people remember he’s also suspicious of her (okay), and the rest of the votes go to Dan. He’s outta here.

In his confessional, Dan remarks that in The Traitors you can’t make one mistake, and he did. I was very struck by this moment because, by my account, he made several mistakes: choosing Parvati as a Traitor, voting for Bergie when both of your fellow Traitors, for different reasons advised against it, and finally, trying to take down Queen Phaedra. I’d say that Dan, your biggest mistake was thinking you only made one mistake.

Back at the turret, things get really juicy. Alan Cumming gives Parvati and Phaedra the opportunity to either murder someone, or seduce a new traitor — and that person doesn’t have to accept. Parvati, agent of strategic chaos and friend of risk, wants to seduce Peter. He’s a bloodhound, she reasons, and that’s someone she wants on her team so that she can “watch him murder his friends.” I gasped!

The episode closes with Peter receiving the invitation to be a Traitor… will he take it?!

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